In 1954, Royal McBee corporation purchased an emerging typewriter manufacturer from Holland, who only made small portable typewriters, which were known as Halberg Travelers. Very few Halberg-labeled typewriters were made; most are found under the name Royal. Royal altered the design of the Traveler--the gull-wing ribbon covers were removed, as was the console carrying case, which was similar to that of the Smith-Corona Skyriter. These were replaced by a removable ribbon cover, which stretched down the sides of the machine, and a zippered carrying case, which was made of vinyl. They were sold under a new name: Royal Royalite.
While the earliest Royalites were one-tone green, later models could be found in two-tone gray, or in a special name variant, called the Eldorado, in black and gold. These typewriters came in vinyl attache cases. In 1963, the Halberg-designed Royalite was offered one last time, as the Royalite '64, which was the first Royalite to be offered with a two-color ribbon. However, this was not the last use of the Halberg design. Until 1967, versions with a raised ribbon cover, which did not stretch down the sides, were offered as the "Royal Citadel," the "Royal Lark," the "Royal Dart," and the "Singer Scholastic," which was sold only at Singer Sewing Machine Centers.
The final typewriter to use this design was manufactured in 1967, most likely a Singer Scholastic. For more information on this machine, go to http://royaltypewriters.blogspot.com/p/singer-scholastic.html
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Royal Quiet Deluxe, 1955
In 2008, I purchased a charcoal gray Royal typewriter from Goodwill. I immediately went to the Typewriter Database (www.tw-db.com) and misread the year--I thought it was a 1957 model. After double-checking, I discovered that it was actually a 1955 model--the numbers on those tables all blend together... I also discovered that after Pastel Yellow, Charcoal is the second-rarest color that the Royal Quiet Deluxe came in.
After doing some more research, I discovered that my typewriter was designed by Henry Dreyfuss, who also designed the Princess Phone for AT&T. His design first appeared in 1948, and had a two-tone gray matte finish. By the 1950s, his design had been rounded-off, and came in a choice of gloss colors. However, it retained the tombstone-shaped keytops, although by this time they were made of plastic.
The Quiet Deluxe was further refined by 1957, with the addition of the Twin-Pak ribbon cartridge system, and a pair of keys (1/! and =/+). The design continued until 1960, when it was completely replaced by the Futura. The futura was mechanically identical, with the exception of the addition of a key-set tabulator (on the Quiet Deluxe, tabs were manually set at the rear of the machine, under the paper support) which enabled the user to push a button to set or clear tabs. Unlike its predecessor, an unlimited number of tabs could be set.
After doing some more research, I discovered that my typewriter was designed by Henry Dreyfuss, who also designed the Princess Phone for AT&T. His design first appeared in 1948, and had a two-tone gray matte finish. By the 1950s, his design had been rounded-off, and came in a choice of gloss colors. However, it retained the tombstone-shaped keytops, although by this time they were made of plastic.
The Quiet Deluxe was further refined by 1957, with the addition of the Twin-Pak ribbon cartridge system, and a pair of keys (1/! and =/+). The design continued until 1960, when it was completely replaced by the Futura. The futura was mechanically identical, with the exception of the addition of a key-set tabulator (on the Quiet Deluxe, tabs were manually set at the rear of the machine, under the paper support) which enabled the user to push a button to set or clear tabs. Unlike its predecessor, an unlimited number of tabs could be set.
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| Royal Quiet Deluxe patent drawing (Courtesy of Google Patents) |